The Stray Job
by Leverage3621
Summary: The team has time off so Nate is of course looing forward to some peace and quiet but what Parker finds and takes to his place will challege his plans.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage.

Pairing: Nate/Parker

A/N: Well the vacation is over; it was nice and definitely needed but I'm glad to be home. I had a few ideas in my head but decided to write this one down first so hopefully you guys like it and as always please review because reviews definitely inspire me to write faster.

"All right guys I would call that a successful con and one that truly deserves at least a one week break. So well done and uh have fun I guess," Nate congratulated the team clasping his hands together loudly to get their attention, pleased with their last con.

"Oh stop it Nate; you're making me blush man," Hardison laughed also pleased that they were actually able to pull off a near impossible con that he thought for sure would be the end of their team.

"Well I know where I'm going for my week off," Sophie piped up looking off into dreamland imagining her days off, no doubt somewhere over in Europe.

"Let me guess…..Paris, wait no…...Venice," Nate stated looking at her to confirm he was right.

"How'd you guess?" Sophie asked curious as to how he was able to correctly guess the city she would be going to.

"I know you Sophie. I know all of you. Eliot's probably either going to the mountains or some river, but either way he's more than likely going camping. Hardison will probably stay at home playing some sort of video game or tinkering with some sort of electronic. And Parker well, she'll probably do what Parker does best; break into a few places or at least concoct some sort of plan to break into places," Nate stated looking around the room at their faces knowing he was correct with his assumptions.

"You're scary," Parker stated giving him a weary look, "Like creepy good scary."

"Thanks," Nate said hesitantly, "I'll take that as a compliment."

"So what are you going to do now that you know what we're all up to?" Eliot asked wondering what it was their leader did on his days off now that he didn't drink himself into unconsciousness anymore.

"I'll probably just kick back and catch up on some movies I've been meaning to watch. In other words I'll be enjoying the peace and quiet that comes with all of you guys leaving town or at least staying at your own house for a change," Nate smiled thinking of the wonderful silence that was soon to come.

"Aw man now that just hurts. We aren't that loud and it isn't like we're here ALL the time just like 95 to _maybe_ 97 percent. I'm beginning to think you don't enjoy our company," Hardison said wiping away a non-existent tear, "Plus we can't help that you chose to live where our headquarters happens to be located."

"Right not much time at all," Nate said sarcastically, "And I'll have you know that I was living here _way_ before my apartment became our place to plot."

"I'm just saying if can't deal with it then maybe it's time to find a new place, but don't think I'm kicking you out. I just want to give my honest opinion," Hardison replied.

"Or maybe we can make your place our new HQ," Nate suggested liking that idea.

"Or we can move HQ like you suggested," Alec agreed quickly not wanting to designate his place for their new hideout, in the off chance that they may have to blow it up one day like the last one.

"I think Nate should just move out because for one I like this place and two we wouldn't have to move everything," Sophie stated, "Plus Nate's the one with the problem, not us."

Nate gave her an unbelieving look that she even thought he would agree to that, "Um no I don't think that's gonna fly Soph, but I will look for a new HQ place during my week off, but I'm staying here. Period."

Sophie's eyes widened at Nate's words not believing he was actually putting his foot down on this because usually he listened to her and was astonished that she held little to no power over him anymore, _'I suppose he truly is over me. Well that just royally sucks doesn't it?'_

"I guess the boss told you," Hardison laughed loving that it wasn't him Nate was griping at for once.

"Shut up Hardison," Sophie told him, "I say we vote on it. Whoever wants to keep headquarters here raise your hand." She raised hers looking around at the rest of the crew kicking Hardison in the shin to make him raise his hand, which he reluctantly did mumbling about how abusive that woman was especially towards him.

Parker and Eliot could care less where HQ was stationed deciding to keep their arms down so they stayed on Nate's good side.

"Guys," Sophie pleaded, "I can't believe you're taking his side."

"Oh come on Sophie a new place wouldn't be that bad. We could use the extra space and then this way Nate doesn't have to have his privacy interrupted as much," Eliot reasoned trying to be the peacemaker for once.

She stared at him for a few minutes in thought over what he said deciding that he was right, "I suppose a new place wouldn't be _so_ bad."

"So it's settled. I'll start looking tomorrow and I promise I'll have a few picked out so we can all look over them and decide as a group," Nate stressed more towards Sophie and Hardison, "which one we'd like."

"Alright it sounds settled then so if that's everything I'm gonna go so I can get everything gathered together. I want to be outta town by dawn," Eliot said glad that the argument was over because this team performed better when they all got along.

Everyone else agreed that they should probably be leaving also minus Parker, who really didn't have anything else to do so she decided she'd hang out awhile longer before heading home. Nate looked over at the small thief wondering why she was still here, not that he minded because unlike the others she was rather quiet herself.

"Uh Parker, you don't have to get ready for anything?" Nate asked.

She looked up at him a little hurt that he wanted her to leave but brushed it away, "You guessed correctly at what I was planning on doing so I don't have to pack or go anywhere for it, but if you want me gone I'll go."

"No. I'm not trying to get you outta here I just thought you'd have something better to do than hang out with a boring person such as myself," Nate said honestly causing Parker to smile glad he wanted her to stay.

"I was thinking that I could help you look at places for our new headquarters," she offered a little shyly. "That is if you want help."

He smiled at her glad he wasn't going to have to do it alone, "I'd like that."

"Great," she said as she headed over to the couch to plop down on it, welcoming the comfort it seemed to emanate.

He went over and joined her enjoying the silence, but enjoying Parker's company more, because even though they didn't talk much, it was still nice having her there with him.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Parker jumped up successfully scaring Nate half to death, "What do ya have to eat Nate? Cause I'm starving."

"Oh um I have no idea, you'll just have to go check," he answered her totally clueless as to what he had in his cupboards.

She wandered into the kitchen checking all the cabinets, "You must eat out a lot cause you have like nothing…not even cereal. What is wrong with you?"

"Haha. I do eat downstairs quite often since they give me a discount, plus I despise grocery shopping," he said knowing she would want cereal. "Although I think I have a box of Raisin Bran if you want that."

"Ew that's for like old people."

"Hey I happen to like it and I'm not quite old. At least not yet," Nate defended himself as he saw the look she was giving him.

"Well I'm going to the store down the street since you have sucky food," Parker told him, "Want anything?"

"Just grab me a bag of chips or something," he told her handing her a few dollars, "You want some company?"

"Nah I like walking alone at night; gives me time to think, but thanks for the offer," she told him sincerely before leaving to go get some cereal that was actually edible and tasty.

'_Who honestly can eat Raisin Bran and like it has to be slightly insane,'_ Parker thought to herself on her way to the small convenient store not too far from Nate's place. The way there was uneventful; the streets were rather quiet at this time of night, which Parker was grateful for since she didn't really care for people much.

She entered the store seeking the cereal aisle right away choosing a variety of different types of sugary goodness because she had a feeling she'd be over at Nate's fairly often this next week helping him choose different places for HQ and she wasn't about to starve herself while doing it. She then meandered over to the chip section wondering which ones he would rather have and decided on a small bag of Sun Chips based on his choice in cereal.

After paying the rather weird store clerk, she started to head back to his apartment anticipating her bowl of cereal. Parker was about halfway there when she heard something down the one alley and dropped the bags raising her fists ready to fight whoever was there but didn't see anyone. Yet again she heard something that sounded as though it were coming towards her and happened to look down.

"Awww how cute," she said aloud squatting down patting her legs trying to coax the cutest dog she's ever seen to come to her, "Hey little girl. Are you hungry?"

The dog slowly came to her wagging its tail wearily not used to having humans be so nice to it.

"Here you can have some of Nate's chips," she said opening the bag and putting a few on the ground for the dog to eat. It inched forward sniffing them then eating them quickly looking up at Parker begging for more. She laughed and dumped the rest of the bag on the ground standing up.

"Stay here puppy, and I'll be right back," she told it grabbing her bags and heading back to the store to buy a bag of dog food deciding that she just couldn't leave it there starving to death. The dog was in the same spot she left it sniffing around for more chips. "Alright cutey lets head back to Nate's place so we can get you some water. Come on."

She began walking looking back after a few steps and noticed the dog was still standing in place with its head cocked sideways looking at her. Parker patted her thigh, "Come on. Come here puppy." Sensing what Parker wanted, the dog ran towards her following her the rest of the way to Nate's apartment stopping when she entered the back way through the bar.

"Come on it's okay," she coaxed the dog in, "I promise I won't let anyone hurt you." After a few minutes of cajoling the dog, it finally came in but the dog was clearly nervous and on edge. "Lets hurry up and get you to Nate's."

She led the dog upstairs opening the door to headquarters putting everything on the counter with the dog following her closely afraid to leave Parker's side. She reached down to pat the dog on the head, but stood up when she heard Nate walking up bracing herself for his reaction, hoping that it wouldn't be too bad.

A/N: Well I think I'll end the chapter here and you will just have to wait to see Nate's reaction to Parker bringing the dog to his place. I hope you enjoy the story so far and I don't think it will be very long but it's an idea that came to me that I had to write about. Please review and let me know what you guys think.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage.

A/N: Many thanks to those who reviewed and I hope everyone enjoys the next chapter.

Parker kept her back to Nate waiting for an outburst to come that was going to be inevitable when he finally realized the dog.

"Hey Parker I was just about to go see what….was….taking," Nate began but stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the dirty and dingy dog in his apartment pointing his finger at it, "Uh Parker? What exactly is that?"

"Don't call her a that," Parker defended, "She's a puppy that I found on the way back. She was starving…"

"Whoa wait. That is not a puppy Parker; that's a full grown dog. There's a BIG difference," he interrupted a little incredulous that she thought that dog was still a puppy.

"I know SHE'S not a puppy but that's just what comes out because she's just so incredibly adorable," Parker explained moodily that Nate kept referring to the dog as a that.

"Well I don't know why you brought that," Parker glared at him angrily and so he didn't get punched added, "_dog_ here because _the dog_ is not staying."

"You can't just kick her back to the streets Nate. She'll starve. Do you want that on your conscious?"

Nate sighed walking over to the counter going through the bags trying to find his bag of chips, "Then take the dog home with you because I'm not letting it stay here. And where are my chips?"

"Um yeah about that…I gave them to the doggie to eat," Parker told him hesitantly.

He turned around shaking his head and throwing a quick glare the dog's way, "Out of all the boxes of cereal you bought you decided to feed the dog _the only_ bag of chips, which were _mine_. The only thing I asked for you to get me."

Parker contemplated what he said finally nodding, "Yes. That's exactly what I did. She was hungry and I couldn't let her just starve plus I've heard sugar isn't healthy for dogs so that's why I fed her your chips instead of my cereal."

"Huh. Whatever Parker just get the dog out of here before I do it myself," he informed her.

"Aw Nate can't we please, please, pleeeease keep her?" Parker begged him clasping her hands in front of her.

"NO Parker. If you want her so much take her to your place."

"Why not? It would be nice to have a dog waiting on us to welcome us home after a hard day at work. I definitely think she would bring up the team's morale," she argued not wanting to get rid of her. "And I can't take her home because my place doesn't allow animals."

"Well neither does this one. If I have any say so, which I do since I own the place and I have a strict no pets policy. And the team's morale is perfectly fine."

"Give me one good reason you won't let the dog stay?"

"Because for one it is MY place and two I know I'd be the one ending up having to take care of the thing even if she becomes the team's dog," Nate told her not wanting to be the one who has to walk and pick up after the dog after she does her business.

"I promise Nate that you won't be the only one taking care of her," Parker begged again squatting down next to the dog giving Nate her best puppy dog face, "Please Nate let us keep her. How can you say no to a face like this?"

He wasn't looking at her but made the grave mistake of glancing over at Parker and the dog. Something clinched his heart and no matter how much he despised animals and wanted to tell her no he just couldn't bring himself to say it one last time. He sighed not believing he was about to say this, "Fine.."

"YES. Oh thank you, thank you, thank you," Parker jumped up running over throwing her arms around Nate's neck giving him the best hug he's ever received from her or from anyone really.

"Uh yeah but Parker," he began a little awkwardly at having her so close to him, "As soon as I'm the only one taking care of her, she's gone. You hear me?"

"You won't regret making this decision," she whispered in his ear realizing how much she was enjoying being in contact with Nate but reluctantly let go taking a couple of steps back. She looked up at him and found that he had sort of a dazed kind of look to him with a hint of a smile showing on his face which made her wonder if Nate felt the same way she just felt for him. A few seconds later though had him shaking his head a few times to clear his thoughts away.

"So….I guess we can try to find a name for her then?" Parker asked looking over at the dog who was still sitting in the same spot slowly wagging her tail looking between her and Nate.

"No the first thing we're, well mostly you, are going to do is bathe it…I mean her," Nate said, "Because she is filthy and if she's to stay here she's going to have to become clean before I let her any farther into my house."

"Fair enough I suppose," she agreed, "But it will be a two person job so don't think that you're going to push this thing off on me."

"Fine I'll help, but I'm not actually washing her….I'll rinse and dry her," he argued dead set on not touching the dog until she was clean. "Come on and let's get this over with."

"Come on girl. Come here," Parker patted her side to get the dog to follow her. She followed Nate up the stairs and down the hall to rather large bathroom. "Alright girl we're going to clean you up a bit but don't worry it won't be so bad."

The dog entered the bathroom completely oblivious to what was about to happen. Nate looked over at Parker telling her through his eyes that he wasn't about to pick the dog up to put her in the bathtub.

"Honestly Nate it's only a little dirt. It won't hurt you," Parker said rolling her eyes and hoisting the dog up into the tub. "I can't believe you made a woman who weighs almost nothing pick up a 90 pound dog. Not very chivalrous."

"Haven't you heard chivalry is dead plus there's no telling where that dog has been or what she has rolled in," he stated his face one of disgust.

"You might want to shut the door in case she doesn't like when the water is turned on."

"Good idea," he agreed walking over to shut the door so the dog couldn't escape their 'torture'.

"Alright let's see what shampoo we have….You don't have anything less…..manly?" she asked looking at what Nate had.

"I don't exactly have a woman living with me so no. All you've got is Old Spice, sorry," he said rolling his eyes at Parker for expecting him to have something more fruity.

"No need to get testy. I was just asking sheesh," she told him turning to the scared looking dog, "It's okay puppy dog we're going to get you cleaned so you feel better….and so you can stay in Nate's place." Parker reached over turning the water on and holding the dog at the same time; she waited for the water to warm up before filling the cup up to begin wetting the dog. "There ya go. Nice and easy. See it's not so bad is it?"

Nate gave a little laugh at the drenched dog who currently shrank in size, "Haha. She looks like a drowned rat."

"Nate that's just mean. You don't look like a drowned rat. No you don't," Parker consoled the dog, who was becoming extremely scared and nervous. Just as Parker was about to finish lathering her, she jumped out of the tub all soapy and wet.

"Hey! Get back in," Nate yelled hoping the dog would for some reason listen to him but luck wasn't on his side this time.

"Don't yell at her. Just catch her!"

"Easy for you to say," he yelled back lunging forward to grab onto the dog but lost his grip when she ran away from him causing him to fall to the ground sliding around on the floor when he tried to get back up from all the water that was there.

"It can't be that hard, Nate."

"She's all slippery. I can't get a grip on her."

The dog turned and began to shake all the water and soap as best as she could off of her.

"Ah, argh. Aw it's my mouth!" Nate yelled lifting his shirt up so he could try to wipe it off of his tongue. Parker laughed at the way he was acting and also at his current look; he was drenched and his hair was sticking up in random places successfully giving him the look of a crazy psycho type of person.

"What in the world do you find so funny?" he asked confused as to why so was doubled over in laughter.

She tried to explain but couldn't catch her breath long enough so instead just pointed at him gasping out, "Your hair!"

He looked over into the mirror seeing his crazy new hair style and couldn't help but laugh a little himself. Parker was finally able to catch her breath deciding that she would help him to try and catch the dog, standing up to go get her, but like Nate, she slipped out of her arms running towards the mastermind knocking him in the legs causing him to fall down. "Ow. Dammit dog you are really starting to piss me off you know that?" The dog then put her front legs on his chest wagging her tail like crazy and began to lick him in the face not having a care in the world about how mad Nate was.

"AH Parker get this deranged dog off of me!"

"Aw Nate I think she likes you. Haha," she laughed walking slowly over eventually taking pity on him and this time successfully grabbing the dog and putting her back in the tub.

"Thanks," he breathed standing up covered in dog slobber, water, and soap.

"You want to just join her in the tub?"

"Uh no thanks I'll wait my turn."

"Suit yourself," she said beginning to re-lather the dog scrubbing hard to get all the dirt and grime out of her fur. "Alright all done with that. Now it's Daddy's turn to rinse you."

"Daddy? You're lucky I'm letting you keep her here so don't push your luck," he told her walking over to start rinsing the dog clean so he could get a shower of his own.

"Grumpy," Parker said while helping him by holding the dog in the tub so they didn't have another fiasco.

A few minutes later found Nate and Parker trying to towel dry the wriggling dog, "Just hold still will ya?" Parker finally just sat on the floor and basically hugged the dog to her while Nate dried off the parts of the dog he could reach.

"There finally done. Who would of thought it would take so long and be so complicated to bathe one dog? I don't know how those groomers do it every day," Nate said exasperated.

"So I'm guessing you never want to become a groomer then?" Parker laughed silently agreeing with him. She stood up looking down at her clothes which were completely soaked through also.

Nate shook his head 'no' looking over at Parker who was just as wet if not more so than he was, "Um do you want to take a shower first?"

"I don't know, can you handle being icky for another twenty minutes?"

"I think so," Nate laughed.

"Well then yes I would very much so enjoy taking a shower but," Parker looked away, "I don't have any spare clothes over here."

"Oh uh….I suppose you can wear something of mine while we wash your clothes," Nate suggested, "I'll go see what I have that will fit you the best."

"Kay thanks," Parker said sitting on the edge of the tub waiting for him to come back with some clothes. She reached over and began petting the dog trying to think of an appropriate name for her but not coming up with anything.

Nate walked back into the bathroom carrying some of his old clothes and a towel for Parker, "All I could find was a shirt and a pair of old jogging pants from my skinnier days but they'll probably still be too big."

"Thanks and I guess they'll work until my clothes are cleaned," she said looking at him waiting for him to leave so she could take her shower.

Nate was just looking at her totally oblivious as to what she was trying to hint towards him.

"Um Nate if you don't mind I'd like to take my shower now," she said.

"What? OH. Oh yeah uh, haha, sorry. I suppose I should leave," Nate said nervously wondering why he was acting like such a dweeb. "Uh come here girl. Let's get out of here while Parker takes her shower," he patted his leg letting the dog leave giving the thief one last look before closing the door. _'So stupid. You're acting like a love sick fool.'_

Nate went downstairs with the dog close behind still not comfortable being away from him or Parker. He went to the kitchen and got down two bowls; he filled one with the dog food Parker bought earlier and the other with a bowl of fresh water setting them on the ground. The dog immediately went over and started to eat, "I guess you were a little hungry, huh?"

He walked over to the dining table and sat down watching the large dog eat a few bites before going to the next bowl to drink; a small smile began to form on his lips and he knew that he wouldn't be able to get rid of the dog now, she had definitely won him over. He sat there just watching and thinking about different things from how the team would react to the dog to how he has found himself falling for Parker over the past few hours realizing that he was ready to move on in his life and he wanted Parker to be the person that he was with.

"Uh Nate the shower's open if you want to get one," Parker said quietly walking over to the kitchen counter to get out one of her boxes of cereal.

Nate jumped a little at Parker's voice and looked over at her. He didn't know why exactly but he loved the way his clothes looked on her; the shirt was extremely baggy and the pants were a little loose as they were currently riding low on her hips but you weren't about to hear Nate complain at all about that.

"Nate? Nate?" Parker said trying to get his attention so she could tell him that she already put her clothes in the washer but didn't start it in case he wanted to add his to the load also.

"Huh? Wha?" Nate asked trying hard to concentrate on what Parker was telling him. "Uh yeah okay thanks. I'll do that."

"Are you okay? You seem kinda out of sorts," Parker asked worried with the way he was acting.

"I'm fine. I promise. Um you may want to take the dog for a walk after she's through engorging herself so she begins to learn that's where she'll um do her business," Nate told her standing up still trying not to stare out right at her, "Uh I guess I'll go get in the shower and when I'm done we can think of that name."

"Yeah okay. See you when you get out," Parker told him as he went upstairs to take his much needed shower.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Nate stepped out of the tub about a half hour later feeling refreshed and got dressed before heading back downstairs to see where Parker and the dog got off too. He looked in the kitchen only to find it barren except for a few pieces of lone kibble on the ground.

He walked into the living room to find Parker lying on the couch fast asleep with the dog lying on the floor in front of her looking as though she were keeping guard. "Hey girl," he whispered walking over giving her a small pat to show that he didn't mean any harm eliciting a tail wag and a lick on the hand.

He stood back up smiling down at the sleeping thief, _'She looks peaceful…..beautiful.'_

Having slept on the couch many a nights before, he knew from experience that it wasn't too comfortable to sleep on for an entire night. Nate walked quietly over to the couch and reached down to pick Parker up hoping he didn't wake her up in the process. The dog whined worried about being left alone. "Shhh it's okay. I'll be back down in a few minutes," Nate assured her as he headed upstairs to his room. He laid Parker down on his bed pulling the covers up over her so she wouldn't be cold. She moaned as she turned on her side pulling the blanket up to her chin settling down into the bed. He smiled finding himself wanting to cuddle up behind her so he could hold her and protect through the night but knew that wouldn't ever happen, but couldn't resist the urge to give her a small kiss on the temple before heading back down to sleep on the couch with the ever loyal dog laying down beside him on the floor. "Good night girl. Get some sleep cause I'm sure you're as tired as I am," Nate talked to her as he reached down to pet her falling asleep a few minutes later with Parker on his mind.

A/N: Chapter two done. Still trying to think of a name for the poor dog but I'll definitely have one next chapter. Hope you liked it and please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage.

A/N: Thanks again to those who read and to those who gave a review because it is very much appreciated. Also school has started again so I may or may not update as often but it shouldn't take too long for me to update, hopefully.

Parker rolled over stretching out her muscles as she did, slowly opening her eyes letting them become adjusted to the brightly lit room. When her eyes became focused she realized rather quickly that she wasn't in her room, that in fact she was in what you could call her boss's room. She hastily turned her head to the left wondering if she would find Nate there but didn't and found herself both happy and disappointed when she realized she was the only one occupying the bed. Curious as to why she wound up in his bed, she went downstairs to see if she could find the mastermind and ask him.

She was on the last step when all of a sudden she heard his voice coming from the living room, "Good girl! Now bring it back to me."

"Uh-huh. Don't like the dog Nate? Well you could have fooled me," Parker told the unsuspecting man on the couch patting his legs. She laughed when instead of giving Nate the ball when he reached for it, the dog pulled away in her own way of teasing.

Nate turned to look at Parker not being able to help but stare at her, "Yeah well what can I say she's grown on me I suppose. Sooo did you sleep okay?"

"About that, did you carry me up there or something because I don't remember walking up there," Parker asked him wondering why he'd do such a thing.

"Yeah I know the couch isn't too comfortable so I thought you'd like the bed more and since you were the guest I thought I'd be nice and give it to you," Nate said sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck subconsciously in nervousness.

She stared at him for a few seconds then replied, "Well you didn't have to do that you know, but thank you. You're bed is extremely comfortable by the way."

"You're welcome," Nate said standing up walking past her to head into the kitchen to try to find something to eat.

Parker still didn't completely understand why he let her have the bed because she knew that if Hardison or Eliot ever stayed the night, he wouldn't let them take his bed and they would technically be considered guests but decided to drop it because Nate didn't seem to want to say anything else on the subject.

He glanced over at Parker, who joined him in the kitchen, "I'd offer to make you breakfast but I'm gonna go ahead and guess that you'd rather have cereal, right?"

"Haha. You know me so well Nathan," Parker laughed reaching past him to grab a box of cereal and a bowl, and getting a couple of spoons on her way to the table. "You should try it; I think you'd like the sugariness of my cereal."

He grabbed a bowl and the milk from the fridge, "Well I think I'll take you up on that offer. Which one should I try?"

"Hmmm. Let's see…I think you would like the Cinna-Toasties the best," Parker contemplated nodding her head for emphasis.

"Then Cinna-Toasties it is," Nate laughed grabbing them before sitting next to her at the table to try the cereal. Parker waited to eat hers so she could see his reaction when he took his first bite of awesomeness. He ate his first bite, which was pretty good and definitely better than the Raisin Bran he had in the cupboard.

"Sooooo what do ya think?" she asked not able to gauge his reaction very well.

"It's good," he said simply.

"Good? That's how you describe some of the best cereal in the world? You're crazy," she said beginning to eat her cereal not believing she just wasted good cereal eating time on his reaction.

"Says a person who randomly breaks into dance whenever she feels like it," Nate replied with a smile.

"Hey sometimes you can't help but break into dance when you have a little tune in your head," she defended looking up at him and realized he was just picking on her. "Sorry I fell asleep on you last night."

"No big deal. I was tired too and this way we'll be able to remember what we name the dog since we'll be conscious enough to do it," he brushed off. "So I'm thinking we first think of a name for our new companion, and then we can go out and buy some stuff for her. What do you think?"

"I thought we were supposed to be looking for a place to house headquarters?"

"Well we'll get to that, either later today or we can always start tomorrow," he suggested.

"Then I'm up for your plan because I really didn't have anything I was going to do on my days off. Well nothing important," Parker stated finishing her cereal contemplating on having another bowl but decided against it.

Nate finished his breakfast a few minutes later and stood up taking his and Parker's bowl to the kitchen, "Then I suppose I'll go get dressed so we can begin our day and your clothes should be dry if you want to change."

"Oh yeah I forgot about that," she remembered wanting to stay in his clothes since they were more comfortable and since they smelled like him but thought that it probably wasn't appropriate attire to wear out in public.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Parker returned to the living room twenty minutes later to find Nate already down there playing with the dog yet again. "Ready to officially make her ours?"

He threw the ball again watching the dog chase after it, "Sure so what's your first suggestion; ladies first."

"No fair," she pouted trying to think of a name for the mostly black somewhat shaggy large dog, "Um how about Fuzzy?"

"I don't know about that one; it's kinda too obvious a name. Hazel?"

"She's a black dog Nate not brownish. Bubbles?"

"Seriously?"

"She kinda has a bubbly personality."

" True but no. Um Akira?"

"Ew no. Oooh I know…Kitty."

"Kitty? You do realize that this is a dog right Parker?"

"I know! That's the irony of it. It's sheer genius."

He shook his head slowly not believing some of the crazy names she was coming up with but it was Parker after all so he really shouldn't have expected anything else. "How about Pepper since she's mostly black with a little bit of white?"

"I don't think that's a girly enough name. What about….," she left off, trying to think but jumped up seconds later gasping with excitement, "I have the _perfect_ name."

"And that would be?" he asked wondering what crazy, insane name she thought of.

"Oprah," she said simply yet confidently. Nate couldn't believe it and the look on his face reflected that. "What? Oprah is a wonderful name."

"For a talk show host, not a dog," he replied denying the name causing Parker to slump back onto the couch with a slight pout to her face, "How about Belle?"

"Ahhh….no. Turnip."

"Why?"

"I like the sound of Turnip."

"I feel sorry for your future kids."

"You think I'll have kids?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah of course. I know there's somebody out there who'll fall in love with you and I'm sure one day you'll have kids, but promise me you won't name them Turnip or Carrot or anything too abnormal," Nate replied truthfully finding himself wanting to be the man she would end up with.

"Haha. I promise. Um how about Maddie?" she asked hoping he would agree because she quite liked that name for their dog.

"Maddie. Yeah I like that," he agreed. "Maddie it is then."

"Finally. Task number one, complete," she checked off.

Nate patted his legs successfully getting the dog's attention, "Come here Maddie, here girl." Maddie ran over to him wagging her tail the whole time giving him a lick on the chin greeting him. "Good girl."

Parker glanced over at Nate seeing how incredibly happy he looked which brought a smile of her own to her face. She was just happy that he was enjoying Maddie's company so much and knew that he would probably be the one who would be taking her home the most out of the team.

Nate looked over at Parker who was smiling at him, "So are you ready to go shopping?"

"Yeah but what are we going to do with Maddie because we can't take her with us, at least not without a leash," she brought up trying to think of what they could do with her while they were gone.

"We can just put her in the bathroom that way she can't mess up too much cause we shouldn't be too long but just in case," he suggested.

Parker agreed taking Maddie out before they left so she didn't have an accident in the bathroom, "Don't worry Maddie girl we'll be back soon enough." She then headed downstairs where Nate was waiting for her patiently, "Ready Freddie?"

Nate laughed a little before replying, "Ready as I'll ever be I suppose."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

They arrived at the pet store and headed straight over to the dog supplies deciding to start first with a bed and a cage.

Parker felt one of the dog beds and literally fell in love with it, "Oh Nate I think we should definitely get this one for her. I mean feel how soft it is."

He reached over and touched it, "Yeah it is nice. Go ahead and put it on the trolley thing."

She put it on the cart asking, "Do you think they make one for humans because I would so totally get one?"

He looked over at her wondering about some of the thoughts that ran through her head sometimes, "Um I don't think so but you never know."

"Sweet," she replied reminding herself to put that on her Christmas list. She followed Nate over to the cages allowing him to choose that since she really didn't care what kind of kennel they got for her as long as it was big enough. "Now for the fun stuff," she said excited heading over to the leashes and collars trying to find one that would be perfect for Maddie.

Nate put the kennel he chose on the cart then followed her over to the 'fun stuff' spotting a yellow collar and held it up for Parker's judgment, "Ew Nate I swear you have the worst taste ever." He just sighed knowing it was going to be a long day shopping but couldn't really think of any better way to spend his day then with Parker.

She continued to look really trying to find the perfect one, then she spotted it. Picking up the collar, she showed it to Nate to wait for his opinion, "Uh yeah that one's perfect."

"I know right? I knew it as soon as I saw it," she replied placing the black collar with green dog bones on it, on the trolley. She then wandered over to the leash section spotting a pink one and immediately had an idea pop into her head, "Hey how about this leash?"

"Uh. Um. Pink?" he asked hoping she was just playing with him.

"Yeah pink. Why you don't like it?" she asked giving him her puppy eyes.

He hesitated before answering because he didn't want to hurt her feelings but pink just wasn't going to fly, "Uh it's just that the team has three guys on it and I don't think Eliot would appreciate walking a dog with a pink leash. And honestly I really don't want to be caught holding a pink leash either."

"Aw please Nate?" she begged seeing if she could get him to cave.

"Huh. I guess if you really want _that_ one but don't come crying to me if Eliot spray paints it black or something," he gave in; he just couldn't say no to her or her puppy eyes.

"Okay," she said putting it back and deciding on a green one that matched the color of the bones instead.

"Wha? You just begged for the pink one and now you're going with green?" Nate asked, "Typical woman."

"Haha. I just wanted to see if I could get you fold, which you did. You folded as quickly as a lawn chair," the thief said heading to the next aisle to look for some more toys for Maddie.

Nate hung his head in shame not believing that he fell for one of her little pranks, slowly following her and deciding that he would let her pick everything else out to avoid being pranked again. Although he may have to choose a couple of toys because some of them were just too cool or cute to pass up, like the hedgehog squeaky plush toy he slipped onto the trolley.

Parker was finding it pretty hard not to just throw almost every single toy onto the trolley because they were all just awesome and she knew Maddie would like them. She, however, did control herself and chose a tug-a-war rope, a plush ball, a chew bone, and a squeaky plush fish. As she was placing her choices on the trolley she noticed the hedgehog, "Uh Nate what is the cute hedgehog doing on here?"

"I would think that would be obvious. It's for Maddie to play with," he replied confused with her question.

"Ahhh. What do you think you're doing? Our dog is not going to be an animal killer. What if she sees a real hedgehog in real life? She would think it would be okay to tear it to shreds," Parker exclaimed.

"I highly doubt that she'll ever come across a hedgehog and I don't think one little toy that resembles an animal will turn her into an animal killer," he stated laughing a little at the reason she didn't want Maddie to have the toy and noticed her fish plushie, "And what about the fish plushie you have? She's way more likely to see a fish than a hedgehog."

"Pfft fish don't count. Everyone knows no one counts fish as animals. I mean even vegetarians will eat fish sometimes, come on," she explained as if it was obvious.

"Whatever but I'm keeping the hedgehog," he said fighting for his toy to stay.

"Do you really want to raise a killer dog?"

"Please Parker," Nate begged using his own puppy dog eyes and even went a step further by sticking out his bottom lip in a pout.

She couldn't believe that he knew how to do the puppy eyes and he did them rather well she commented to herself knowing she was going to give in. He was just too adorable and she found herself falling for him even more than she already had, _'You're starting to enter dangerous territory but I suppose there's nothing I can do about that now.'_

"Fine Nate if you _must_ get it then get it," she gave in hoping Maddie never came across a wild hedgehog for fear she would attack it.

"Awesome," he sang doing a little victory dance causing Parker to bust out laughing. She's never seen him as happy as he was now and she quite liked the happy side of Nathan Ford because it was definitely contagious.

"Alright we have a bed, a kennel, a leash and collar, and now toys. Anything missing?" she asked trying to think of anything they may have missed.

"Uh treats and more food because the small bag you bought at the convenient store won't last too much longer," he replied maneuvering the trolley to the next aisle and placing a huge bag of dog food on it.

Parker went straight to the treats wondering which ones Maddie would like more, "Hey do you think she'd prefer the sausage things or the bacon?"

He came up beside her to look at what she was talking about trying to decide, "Probably the bacon. I mean what dog doesn't love bacon right?"

"You're right," she agreed throwing the bag of treats on the trolley, "Well I believe that's all."

"I would agree," he replied looking at their piled down cart pushing it towards the front so they could check out.

Parker was standing off to the side waiting for him to get finished paying for everything when she noticed a dog tag machine and ran over to it knowing that a tag was the thing they were missing.

Nate thanked the cashier and looked up in search of Parker not finding her anywhere, "I swear she's worse than a kid sometimes." He finally spotted her just as he was about to ask the cashier to do an all-call for her.

"So I'm guessing you want to make her a tag?" he asked walking up beside the thief brushing up against her loving the contact.

"We can't have a dog without a dog tag," she said glancing over at him enjoying how close he was, which was odd for her but with Nate she never really minded when he touched her.

"Ha I suppose not. So which shape do you want? The circle, star, or dog bone? I personally think the bone that way it matches her collar," he stated.

"Totally," she agreed choosing the bone then began typing Maddie's name and Nate's address to complete the order. "Thanks Nate."

"For what?"

"One for letting us keep Maddie and for two letting me hang out with you because I know how much you wanted peace and quiet for your days off," she said looking at the ground the whole time uncomfortable telling him that.

"To be honest I'm glad you're here otherwise I would just be extremely bored. I would probably be going insane and I truly enjoy being with you," he told her honestly noticing the smile that appeared on her face when he said that. He reached over and squeezed her hand in his letting her know that she was always welcome to come over; she squeezed back not knowing for how much longer she would be able to keep her feelings for him to herself because all the things he was doing for her all pointed to how he could possibly feel the same but she wasn't sure if she was ready to actually make that leap of faith. She wanted to be a hundred percent sure that he felt the same way before she declared her feelings for him for fear of being shot down.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

After Nate and Parker carried everything up to his place they let Maddie out of the bathroom, who was completely ecstatic to see them barking and running around. "Alright calm down girl," Nate said reaching into the bag to grab the tag and collar. After he finally got the tag onto the collar, which was a feat all of its own, he chased Maddie down and somehow managed to get it on her. "I think she looks great."

"I would definitely agree," Parker said grabbing the bed and placing it in front of the couch, which she noticed was one of Maddie's favorite places to lay. She then pulled all of the toys out, quietly hiding the hedgehog behind a pillow hoping Nate wouldn't realize it. "Here you go Maddie. We got you a cute little fish, a ball, and a nice rope to play with."

"Hey where's the hedgehog?" Nate asked looking through the bags not able to find it.

"Huh it's not in there? Maybe the cashier forgot to bag it," Parker suggested acting as if she didn't know where the toy was.

"That just sucks," he said making a reminder to head to the store sometime to ask about it, but for now decided to put the kennel together which didn't take long.

Parker looked over at Nate from the ground, as she was currently playing with Maddie and her new rope, asking, "Are we going HQ hunting today?"

He glanced at his watch and noticed that it was about three o'clock, "Uh no we'll have to wait until tomorrow. It's a little too late; we probably wouldn't be able to see but one maybe two places so we might as well wait."

"Fine with me. I guess I'm going to head home and I'll come over sometime in the morning so we can start looking," she told him not really wanting to go home but also wanted to give Nate the silent time he was planning on having that week.

He was disappointed to hear she was going but just chocked it up to be that she just wanted to be alone, which he couldn't blame her for; sometimes it was nice to be by yourself, "Alright that sounds good."

"Do you want me to take Maddie home?"

"Ah nah. It would be easier to let her stay here. Unless of course you wanted to take her home," he said not caring either way.

She shook her head, "No I'll let her stay here but maybe I'll take her tomorrow."

"Okay. Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," he replied wanting to give her a hug before she left but wasn't quite sure how she'd react to that so withheld himself.

She nodded walking over to Maddie, who was standing beside him, and reached down to give her a pat on the head. "I'll see ya Nate," she said placing her hand on his shoulder giving it a little squeeze, too much of a chicken to give him a hug.

"Yeah see ya," he said as she closed the door behind her looking down at Maddie a few seconds later, "Well it looks like it's just you and me girl."

A/N: Hopefully this chapter flows well enough and you guys don't find it boring. Please review. :)


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage and I don't think I ever will.

A/N: Thanks everyone who reviewed and I'm so glad you guys are enjoying my story. Please continue to enjoy.

Nate moaned when he heard someone knocking on his door, and reluctantly made himself get up out of bed to go answer it tripping over the dog as he did so, "Gah Maddie! Your bed is downstairs."

She picked her head up to look at him, gave a little wag of her tail then laid her head back down to go back to sleep without care in the world. "Glad you can go back to sleep."

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Nate yelled walking across the living room finally arriving at the door opening it up to reveal, "Parker?"

"Are you just getting up Nate because we're supposed to be headquarter hunting?" Parker asked stepping inside noticing how rough he looked as though he had a late night drinking even though he was supposed to have quit. "Are you drinking again?"

"Huh, what? No I'm not drinking again," he answered confused, "Why didn't you just come in? You usually don't knock."

"That's when it was still headquarters, but it's just _your_ place now so I thought I'd do the courteous thing and knock. That was the last lesson Sophie and I went over so I've been trying to do it more often," Parker told him sitting down on the couch. "You look pretty rough like when you used to drink so that's why I asked that."

"Yeah well it's that stupid dog's fault. I didn't get very much sleep last night thanks to her constant whining and barking," he said incredibly irritated. "I think she'd rather be with you so you get her tonight."

"Aw poor Maddie."

"Poor Maddie? I didn't get to sleep until like five this morning and it's how early?" he stated looking at the clock. "Ten. I do not do well on five hours of sleep."

"You can nap later. Where is the cutie?" she asked looking around not seeing her anywhere.

"Upstairs asleep…..lucky," he replied heading to the kitchen to make some much needed coffee, especially if he was going to be out for most of the day.

"I'll be back. I'm going to go say hi to her," Parker said jumping up and running upstairs to go see her baby girl. "There you are girl," Maddie began wagging her tail crazily running over to greet Parker with a few licks and barks, "I heard you kept Nate up all night. That's not a very good girl; he just fell in love with you and if you act like that again he may start his dislike again." Maddie barked at her jumping up on to her for more attention. "Come on Maddie let's go downstairs and see if that coffee has improved Mr. Grumpypants' mood any."

Parker headed down the stairs with Maddie right on her heels the whole way. When she arrived down in the living room, Nate was holding the hedgehog she hid last night with a look that said he was aggravated and also that simply asked, 'Why?'

"Oh looky there you found it. The cashier didn't forget to bag it after all," she said trying not to act as though she were busted; she wasn't giving in that easily.

"Guess where I found it?"

"On the…floor?" she smiled questioningly, trying not to give herself up.

"No," he said shaking his head, "For some odd reason it was behind the pillow on the couch."

"Really? Well maybe Maddie found it and-"

"Just admit you hid it there Parker because Maddie certainly didn't do it," he interrupted giving a little smile when she sighed shaking her head up and down, "Yet again why?"

"Because I still believe it will turn her into a cold blooded killer," she said stomping her foot for emphasis.

Nate tossed the hedgehog towards Maddie who backed away from it, "Oh yeah. Real killer that one is."

"Just wait. I bet when we get home; its head will be missing," she declared and hoping that it would be missing its head just to prove to Nate she was right.

He walked by her patting her on the shoulder, "I'm sure. Well I'll be back down in a few minutes dressed and ready to go hunting for a new place. Can you take Maddie out for me?"

"No problem. Let's go Maddie!" Parker called grabbing her leash and latching it to her collar. As Parker walked the dog around waiting for her to do her thing, she thought about her ever growing feelings towards Nate.

She told Sophie that she had feelings for someone a few weeks ago and didn't know what to do. The grifter told her that she should tell that person how she felt because you never know what could happen and living with the regret of never revealing to them how you feel is a terrible feeling. Parker wanted to tell Nate but didn't know if she could handle any more rejection in her life and that the regret of never telling him would be easier to live with but now she doesn't know if that statement is still true. She always told herself he didn't feel the same but these past couple of days has revealed a new side to Nate, a side that was happier and more open. Maddie could have something to do with him being happier but Parker couldn't help but to think that maybe, just maybe, she was causing a lot of that happiness.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Maddie gave a bark letting her know that she was through and ready to head back inside. When Parker and Maddie entered Nate's place, he was dressed and waiting for them on the couch with his head leaning against the back of the sofa, his eyes closed.

"You better not be asleep Nathan Ford," Parker threatened unleashing Maddie who went straight over to her toys to begin playing.

"Yeah or you'll what?" he asked his eyes still closed but a small smile forming on his face.

"Or I'll pounce on you. You can ask Eliot, I'm very boney and it not's a pleasant thing when I do," she stated walking over to stand in front of him.

He opened one eye looking up at her, "And how would Eliot know this?"

"I jumped out a window and fell on top of him remember?" she asked wondering if that was jealousy coming through his voice.

"Oh yeah, but I don't know I am pretty tired; I may just sleep right through your pouncing," he stated closing his eye again.

"Then I'll just have to pour ice cold water all over you."

"Fine I'm up, I'm up," he said standing up quickly not giving her enough time to move out of his way, the result being that they were only about an inch apart. "Uh sorry about that."

"For what?" Parker whispered, her brain urging her to just give him a kiss, but her body stayed completely still.

He didn't reply but instead just stared at her wondering if he should kiss her and made the mistake of glancing down at her lips making the temptation that much stronger.

"Nate?"

His eyes shot back to hers, but he just couldn't bring himself to go through with it and instead sighed stepping aside mentally kicking himself for not kissing her wondering if he would ever get another chance like that again. "Uh we should probably get going," he said lamely looking at his watch and noticed that it was already eleven.

"Yeah I guess so," she replied trying not to sound too disappointed. "Come on Maddie you have to get in the kennel but we won't be gone too long, if all goes well." She shut the door after Maddie got in the kennel and poked a treat through the grate, "Good girl."

"Ready?" Nate asked grabbing his keys and wallet from the counter.

"Yep."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"As you can see Mr. Ford this place offers a spacious area," Angela Connolly told him and Parker as they came in. "What exactly are you going to be needing the space for? This way I can help you better."

Parker started, "A place for our headq-"

"Offices! Head offices. Isn't that right Parker?" Nate glared at her for almost telling the woman more than she needed to know.

Parker just shrugged her shoulders looking around not really liking the whole feel of the place; it was much too dark and not very welcoming.

"Offices, huh? Alright I believe I know of a few places that may be just what you're looking for," Angela informed him.

"But we only need one place," Parker said confused.

The woman gave her a curious look, "Right."

"Just ignore her for now. She's running on little sleep," Nate excused Parker's behavior walking off with Angela as she began explaining some of the details to the place.

Parker glared at Nate's back for his comment and wandered around waiting for the two of them to get through talking so she could tell Nate that she really didn't like this place all that much.

"Are you ready to see the next one Mr. Ford?"

"Please call me Nate. And yeah I think we're ready," he answered giving her, what Parker would call, his charming smile causing a twinge of jealousy to go through her wishing they could lose Angela and just go see the places by themselves. "Come on Parker we have a lot more to see."

"Coming," she said following them out the door suddenly not finding this whole experience as fun as she thought she would.

The rest of the day went slightly better than the first place, they actually found a few that were extremely nice and knew the rest of the team would think so also so they kept the brochures to those so they could show them when they all arrived back home.

At about three o'clock they ended up back at Nate's place, but instead of staying longer, like she originally planned on earlier, Parker told him she was tired and was going to go home to rest. Nate noticed that she was in a different mood than she was this morning and wondered what happened between now and then.

"Uh let me help you with Maddie's stuff," he said packing the dog's things that she would need for the night, worried about Parker but didn't want to pry so he just kept quiet.

"Thanks," she replied quietly wanting to just get away so she could cool down. Nate followed her down to her car putting the bags in her back seat and gave Maddie a few pats goodbye, then turned to Parker who was already in the driver's seat ready to go, "Uh same time tomorrow then?"

"Yeah sure. Bye."

"Bye," he said and watched her car until it became lost in the city traffic trying to think what could have made her so upset, but couldn't really think of anything except the incident this morning. He headed back up to his place spending the rest of his day watching a couple of movies and thinking about Parker; replaying that morning's incident in his head.

The next five days went about the same way, the only difference was that Maddie would be swapped between houses; Parker would arrive in a good mood, but by the end of the day she would be quiet and moody. Nate had no idea what was going on but decided on their last night of their days off that he was going to get to the bottom of this because he hated that she was feeling this way.

Just as they had these past few days, they ended back at his apartment after looking at the last of the places for rent.

"I'm going to go Nate," Parker stated heading towards the door after giving Maddie her pats goodbye.

"Can I talk to you for a few minutes first?" he asked hoping she said yes.

Parker sighed but couldn't say no to him so she turned around, "Yeah sure. What's up?"

"Are you feeling okay Parker? Because this past week I've noticed that something seems to have been bothering you?" he asked concerned for her.

She looked down at the ground so she didn't reveal anything to him with her eyes, "I'm fine, just tired is all. Who knew that hunting for a place would be so draining?"

He stared at her a few moments trying to decipher what was truly bothering her but couldn't quite put his finger on it, "Are you sure that's all?"

"I'm sure Nate," she said wanting to get out of there and away from his penetrating gaze because she knew he probably wasn't too far away from figuring out what was troubling her.

"Okay," he said not convinced but decided to let it go for now, "Angela said she'd call me tomorrow to let me know the prices on the last two we liked."

"I'm sure she will," Parker stated not liking the realtor woman at all mostly because Nate seemed to like her a lot and because she was just plain annoying, which was why she couldn't understand how he could like that lady.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked sensing the harshness in her voice.

"I'm just saying she'd look for any reason to call you is all Nate. She clearly likes you; I mean she was practically throwing herself at you," she stated angrily.

"She was not throwing herself at me," he said, "Angela is a nice woman who just wants to do nothing but help us with finding a place."

"Yeah maybe but I think she's more aimed at ending up in your bed," she stated matter of factly.

"Parker!" he yelled her name clearly saying she went too far with her last comment.

"What? It's true and the way you act towards her, I'd say you want the same thing."

"Whoa! What? What are you getting at Parker?" he asked completely confused on why she was getting so upset.

"I'm saying you like her too!" she yelled turning around to leave but just as she opened the door Nate came up behind her putting his hand on it enabling her from getting it open enough for her to leave.

He leaned closer into her and whispered, "I don't like Angela, Parker."

"Could have fooled me the way you kept touching her arm and using that oh so charming smile of yours," she replied back finding it hard to think clearly with his body up against hers, "Now can you please back up so I can leave?"

"No, not until you tell me why you're acting this way," he replied keeping his hand firmly pressed against the door waiting for her reply.

She thought of what to say to him or what she could say to him that would be halfway believable but before she could stop herself she turned around telling him the one thing she vowed to herself this week that she wouldn't ever tell him, "Because I am in love with you Nate!"

A/N: Cruel I know to leave you hanging but I am. Don't worry though the next chapter should be up in a few days and you won't have to wait too long. Sorry that the chapter ended kinda angsty but it just kind of popped into my head and I decided that was a good way for their feelings to come out. Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage.

A/N: Sorry that it took me longer than expected to get this posted, but I guess I've suffered from some writer's block here lately; I couldn't really think of how I wanted to end the story so I hope you like it. Thanks for the reviews and enjoy.

Nate took a step back when he heard Parker's reply, a look of surprise on his face, "You love me?"

She rolled her eyes mumbling, "I knew that was a bad idea," before turning around to leave but was yet again stopped by Nate putting his hand on the door, although if she wanted to she could have easily opened it but something made her stay in place to hear what he had to say.

"Now I know why you were so upset after we looked at all the places," he whispered, "You were jealous."

She quickly turned around to deny it, "I was not!" Nate lifted his eyebrows at her to show he didn't believe her. She glanced away mumbling, "Fine maybe I was just a little bit jealous."

"Is it true what you said to me Parker? Or was it just a way for me to let you go?" Nate asked desperately hoping that it was true.

She looked away from his gaze, causing his heart to drop because that usually meant that they didn't mean what they said, "If it wasn't true Nate, I would have left as soon as you took a step back." She didn't risk glancing at him for fear of seeing pity, pity that said he didn't feel the same, "But don't worry we can just pretend that none of this ever happened."

"And why for the love of God, Parker would I want that to happen?" he asked putting his hands on her shoulders.

Her tear-filled eyes shot back to his face a little more than confused about the look she found, "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying Parker, that I am also in love with you. I may not have realized it completely until this week, but I can't help it. I love you," he said pleading with his eyes for her to believe him.

Had Parker been able to take a step back she would have, but she did show the look of surprise on her face that he showed not even ten minutes ago. Nate knew he probably should have waited for her to reply or something, but he didn't want to toss another opportunity to kiss her away like he did last time. He inched closer raising his hands to her face before leaning down to finally kiss her soft lips like he should have done five days ago.

As soon as Nate's lips met hers, she relaxed placing her hands on his waist slowly pulling him closer to her wanting to feel him pressed up against her. Before they progressed any further, however, Maddie ran over barking grabbing Nate's blazer in her mouth and gave a tug. Nate tried reaching down to get her to stop but she just wouldn't let go; he broke the kiss fixing a glare at the dog, "Maddie I swear you have the worst timing ever!"

Parker gave a laugh causing him to look back at her but couldn't help but break into a huge smile, happy that she was back to her old self once again.

"Tell _your_ dog, Parker, to go play so we can continue where we left off."

"Why is it that when she's in trouble it's always _my_ dog? And that when she's being a good girl she's _your _dog?" she asked folding her arms across her chest.

"Because she obviously learns all the bad traits from you because you're the actual thief here; I just happen to use you guys for good," Nate said smiling and giving her a little wink.

"Really? Well in that case I'll just let her continue chewing," Parker said sliding away from him and heading over to couch to plop down on it.

"Parker!" Nate said exasperated trying yet again to get the dog to release him. "I was joking!"

She laughed, "I know. She just has to go out Nate and that's how she decided to get your attention. The leash is on the counter. Have fun!"

He sighed walking and dragging the dog along with him, as soon as he touched the leash she let go and sat waiting for him to hook it to her collar, "Crazy dog! Let's go and you better hurry up."

Parker watched as Nate led Maddie out of the door, her mind thinking through everything that just happened. One minute they're yelling then the next they're proclaiming their love for each other which then in turn leads to a kiss, and a very nice one at that. She was happy he loved her but she's never been in this situation before; she was absolutely terrified because she didn't know what would happen next. The logical thing would be to get together but she wasn't sure if Nate would want to do that or if he would rather just keep them a secret.

She sank deeper into her thoughts and didn't even notice him and Maddie entering the apartment. Nate unleashed the dog motioning for her to go on and play then glanced over at Parker, the smile on his face disappearing when he saw how scared she looked. He walked over and sat on the couch startling her out of her daze, "Is everything okay Parker?"

"I want to say yes Nate but where do we go from here?"

"What do you want to happen?" he asked wondering if she reevaluated her feelings for him and she didn't love him after all. What if it was all just a crush that she mistook for love?

"I've never been in this position before Nate," she stated looking up at him for comfort.

He gave her a little smile, "Well you love me and I love you. That only leaves one option in my mind."

"Which is?"

Nate leaned forward wrapping his arms around her pulling her to him in a comforting hug and just held her; he didn't lie to the team when he said that he knew them because he knew that what Parker needed more than words was reassurance, assurance that he'd be there for her and what better way to let her know than to just show her?

Parker smiled into his shoulder knowing that he wanted to be with her and always would be there no matter what, "So are we going to tell Sophie, Hardison, and Eliot?"

"I don't see why not. They may freak for a little while, but they'll either get used to it or have to deal with it," he said pulling back to look at her, "If you want to that is."

"I don't have any problems with it," she replied with a smile turning and leaning back against Nate who wrapped his arms around her. "When is everyone arriving tomorrow?"

"Uh about noon I think. And if all goes well by the end of the day we'll be the owners of a new HQ."

"Yeah right! This team can't ever decide on anything that easily, especially Eliot and Hardison."

"Huh yeah I know. I'm not really looking forward to that part, but who knows maybe a weeks vacation has relaxed everyone enough that everything will go smooth enough," he stated with a pause before busting out laughing with Parker knowing that that statement was completely untrue.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The next day arrived fairly quickly with Parker begin the first out of the team, besides Nate since he lived there, to arrive at their old headquarters. They decided that they would keep Maddie a secret until they decided on a new place, so she was currently upstairs in her kennel asleep.

Sophie was next to arrive followed closely by Eliot with Hardison strolling in last.

Nate motioned for them all to sit down at the table, "So how was everyone's time off?"

"Man let me tell you, I totally had a blast. I just lazed around and played video games all day," Hardison began, "How awesome is that? No stress at all."

"Don't you mean lame?" Eliot asked receiving a glare from Alec, "Well I had a nice time camping. I did some hiking, but mostly I just had a relaxing time by the river."

"Don't you mean boring?" Hardison asked dodging a back hand from the hitter. Nate then glanced over at Sophie waiting for her to reply.

"I had a well enough time I suppose. Mostly I just shopped until my heart's content," she said with a little gleam in her eye. "What did you do Parker?"

"Oh well I mostly hung around here," she said nonchalantly.

Hardison of course had something to say to that, "Man, Nate, why does _she_ get to hang here but you kick us to the curb?"

"Well for one she's a lot quieter than you three-" he began.

"And for two, he loves me," Parker interrupted taking time to glance at everyone, who didn't appear to be shocked which she found slightly odd.

"Well he loves us too but that doesn't mean you should get special treatment," Hardison replied looking slightly hurt.

Parker laughed, "No I mean he like loves me, loves me. We got together over the week." This time their reactions were a lot different.

Eliot kept looking at Nate then back to her trying to decide if that was even possible, Hardison spit out his drink he recently took a sip of, and Sophie just shrugged her shoulders as if to say, 'It could have been worse.'

Hardison finally quit choking long enough to get out a response, "You mean you two are…_dating_?"

"Yes, Alec, we are dating," Nate replied with a smile.

"Man, only gone one week and everything starts to change," he shook his head in disbelief, "It's a good thing we weren't gone for two weeks, we would have came back and the two of you would have been married with kids."

"Don't you think that's a little exaggerated?" Nate asked giving him a look that matched the tone of his voice.

"Well he isn't too far off, I suppose Nate considering-" she began, thinking of Maddie upstairs.

"Not now Parker," he replied reminding her that they were going to wait to show them Maddie.

Sophie gasped looking from Parker to Nate glancing at the thief's hand to see if there was a ring and found none meaning, "You're pregnant?"

"What? No she's not pregnant. What even gave you that idea?" Nate asked confused with why Sophie would even think that.

"Because Parker said Hardison wasn't too far off, and I don't see a ring so I thought maybe she was pregnant," she explained still looking at Parker trying to establish if she was pregnant or not.

"We only had a week, I think it'd be a little early to tell," he told Sophie.

"Well you two could have been together before this week," Eliot reasoned.

"We weren't," he told him, "Now that everyone is caught up with each other let's move on to the places Parker and I found that are great choices for are next HQ location."

He spread out the five brochures on the table hoping the choice would be easy and quick. Sophie grabbed one to begin flipping through it with a look of disgust on her face. "I'm guessing you don't quite like that one then?"

"No not at all. It's too dark and uncheerful," she responded putting that one down to pick up another one, which yet again didn't pass her inspection. "You could get lost in that place, no way."

Hardison leafed through one giving a shrug trying to picture how everything would fit and found that there would more than likely be complications, "There is definitely not enough space in this one. We'd be packed like sardines; did you guys even go and check these places out?"

"Yes! We spent all day looking at places, although if Nate wouldn't have been flirting with the agent…." Parker accused.

"For like the hundredth time, Parker, I wasn't flirting, I was just being nice."

"Well you better have since you two are dating now," Sophie replied looking through the fourth brochure. "I suppose this one isn't too bad."

Eliot took it from her looking through it himself. He really didn't care where headquarters was moved to as long as it wasn't a completely girly place and with Sophie's response he wanted to check it out, "No it looks decent enough. How's the last one look Hardison?"

"Like completely perfect! It's basically got the same floor designs as our last location," he said happily because he really missed their last place and hated that he had to blow it to bits.

"Oooh let me see," Sophie said reaching over to grab the leaflet out of his hands. "We should definitely go with this one. I miss having my own office."

Eliot grabbed it from her taking a look shaking his head in agreement, "I think this is the one."

"Alright everyone in favor of number five, raise your hand," Nate instructed crossing his fingers under the table that the decision was going to be that easy. He looked around and everyone had their hand up, he clasped his hands together, "Then we have a winner. I'll call the agent later and tell her that's the one we're going to buy."

Parker looked over at Nate, who caught her eye, and nudged her head up towards the stairs wondering if they could show them Maddie now. He nodded his head so she stood up and went upstairs to get the dog excited to show the team the newest member.

"Uh while you guys were away, Parker stumbled across something which is going to be our newest member of the team," Nate explained. The others gave him a confused look, but the answer to their question came soon enough; they heard a bark then saw a black blur run down the steps with Parker following after it.

Hardison caught a glimpse of a large black dog seconds later, "Aww. You two got a dog?"

"Parker found her on the way back here from the store and brought her home," Nate said.

Sophie looked a little weary of the dog, but as soon as Maddie came over to give her a lick she fell in love, "Oh she's just too adorable. I can't wait to go buy her some clothes, and ooh I can paint her toenails. This is going to be so much fun."

"Aw Soph, you can't torture the dog," Eliot complained patting his leg for the dog to come to him. "What's her name?"

"Maddie," Parker replied glad that everyone loved her, she was worried Sophie wouldn't really like her but apparently she did.

"We figured that she could stay at headquarters during jobs and could go home with someone different every few nights or so," Nate told the team glad that Parker brought her to his place the night she found her because Maddie was definitely a huge part in getting him and Parker together.

"That's a lovely idea," Sophie agreed wanting to take her to her place that night.

"I get first dibs," Hardison said thinking of the different things he was going to buy her.

"I don't think so man," Eliot replied rubbing Maddie's ears, "You don't want to go home with him, trust me."

"Why not? I called it first."

"Because I'll punch you if you do."

"Eliot that's not fair. Just because you're slightly stronger doesn't mean you should get her first."

"Since you two clearly can't share, I'll just take her home tonight," Sophie interjected before Hardison literally did get punched by Eliot.

"You're lucky you're a girl or I'd punch you too," Eliot replied.

"How about we settle this the old fashioned way?" Nate asked so no one got hurt.

"And what do you have in mind?" Sophie asked.

"Rock, paper, scissors," he stated.

"Man that ain't fair! I always lose to Eliot, he cheats," Hardison interjected throwing his head back in exasperation while tossing his hands up in the air.

"Hey I can't help you have a tell. It's called being observant," Eliot laughed knowing he was more than likely going to win this.

"Okay put your hands in," Nate instructed waiting on Sophie, Hardison, and Eliot to do so, "Okay on the count of three. One, two, three."

"See he cheats!" Hardison yelled.

"I agree," Sophie stated glaring at a laughing Eliot.

"You guys made that way too easy," he laughed petting Maddie, "Don't worry girl, I spared you some major torture, you're coming home with me."

Parker caught Nate's eyes and gave him a smile, she scooted her chair closer so she could lean up against him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and whispered, "I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered back watching Sophie, Hardison, and Eliot begin to argue again, "Well at least it was quiet for a week."

"I suppose," he said, "Although with the new headquarters, it'll be a lot quieter around here…..hopefully."

She laughed knowing that Nate would still probably have to deal with them coming over just out of habit but she knew that he enjoyed the company despite how he acted and complained sometimes.

Nate glanced over at her, "There's just one thing I don't understand that happened this week."

She looked up at him questioningly, "And that would be?"

"I thought you said you weren't allowed to have animals at your place and that's the reason why she had to stay here?"

She looked away knowing she was busted, "Uh it's the strangest thing, they decided just this past week that we could have animals."

"Uh-huh right," Nate said not believing a word she just told him, "Although I'm glad you convinced me to let her stay otherwise we may not be together."

"See that's why I lied, so we could come to the conclusion that we loved each other," she replied.

"I knew I loved you for a reason," Nate stated giving her shoulder a squeeze before settling back to continue watching Sophie, Hardison, and Eliot argue with each other.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

A few days later found the team successfully moved in and set up in their new headquarters with minimal fighting or what you could call minimal fighting for this crew. Nate took a look around happy that everything was finally done; he glanced over at Maddie who was playing tug-a-war with Hardison on the floor. "I think she really likes it here," he noticed glancing over at Parker who was cuddled up next to him.

"Hmmm. That's good," she said sleepily, "So how does it feel finally having your place all to yourself?"

"It's rather nice, although I enjoy it much more when you're there," he answered leaning down placing a kiss on top of her head.

"Then I'll have to go over more often," she said with a smile enjoying the idea of visiting him more often now that the rest of the team wouldn't always be there.

"Maybe you could move in," he suggested.

She laughed, "I would like that, although not for at least a few weeks because moving is definitely no easy task."

"Not with this crew, no," he agreed propping his feet up on the table to get more comfortable. He couldn't believe that just a little over a week ago he was single and now, just a mere week and half later, he was with Parker loving every minute of it. He couldn't picture himself with anyone else, and he didn't want to, he loved her so much and within the month she'd be moving in; a day he couldn't wait for. Nate's life absolutely couldn't get any better than it was right now; he was truly happy, which he hasn't been in an awfully long time and it was thanks to a large loving dog that he was glad he said yes to. He leaned his head back closing his eyes and listened to everyone settling in around him pleased with how everything has turned out.

END

A/N: Well that's it guys. I hope the ending was good enough. Please review. :)


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